Moving parts complicate Papajohns.com Bowl's future
By Jon Solomon -- The Birmingham News
November 18, 2009, 1:00PM


This article appeared Wednesday in The Birmingham News. Join me for a chat today at 2 p.m. about national college football.

ESPN Regional Television senior vice president Pete Derzis said he is "opti­mistic" the ESPN-owned Papajohns.com Bowl will remain affiliated with the SEC af­ter this season. But the crucial element of where the bowl will pick remains uncer­tain.

"My sense is that the SEC also wants to continue the relationship," Derzis said Tuesday before speaking at the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham. "The complication has been the Gator Bowl contract (with the SEC) and the domino impact the Gator Bowl had on the lineup."

The negotiations with the SEC for the next four-year bowl cycle have prevented the Papajohns.com Bowl from renewing yet with the Big East. Birmingham's four-year­old bowl currently has the ninth pick of SEC teams and is trying to move up.

Derzis said the bowl has a "basic deal" structured with the Big East, which has told the Papajohns.com Bowl it prefers playing SEC No. 8.......


http://blog.al.com/solomon/2009/11/movin...apajo.html